


Today and everyday

by itried



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, Marriage Proposal, they're 3 yrs older but they're still stupid, they're 3 yrs older in this fic and they've won the war and nobody died and everything's okay, they're both such idiots is2g
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-22
Updated: 2016-09-22
Packaged: 2018-08-16 15:42:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,707
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8108110
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/itried/pseuds/itried
Summary: "I hate this. I hate him." Keith spits through gritted teeth, his knuckles going purple with how hard he's squeezing the little black box, and Shiro, - his supposed best friend, - actually snorts at his pain. Keith already regrets everything. This was a bad bad bad idea."Sorry." He says, the traitor, and has the nerve to look not sorry at all. "But, you know, if you hate Lance so much, you can just not propose to him."





	

"I hate this. I hate him." Keith spits through gritted teeth, his knuckles going purple with how hard he's squeezing the little black box, and Shiro, - his supposed best friend, - actually snorts at his pain. Keith already regrets everything. This was a bad bad bad idea.

"Sorry." He says, the traitor, and has the nerve to look not sorry at all. "But, you know, if you hate Lance so much, you can just not propose to him."

It's Keith's turn to snort because Shiro makes it sound like he has any say in this. It's not like he gets to decide what to say, do or feel about Lance, he never had. Lance hated him so much at the beginning, it was easy to reciprocate. Lance is loud, he talks too much, laughs too much, and he's reckless and annoying and there was never a conscious decision to hate him back. But every time Lance would obnoxiously flirt with Allura and other girls he met, - and it only got worse when he started flirting with boys, - Keith would feel his chest constrict with something that he didn't understand, something that he didn't want to understand, and hating Lance back, hating Lance for making him feel this way, was so easy, it was almost instinct. 

And then it changed. He doesn't know how or when or why, but it did. They started getting along, bonding, after a few months. Nothing really happened to cause such a drastic change, but somewhere along the way the bickering suddenly turned _fun_ and flirty. The way Lance hated was intense, so Keith should have known that they way Lance _loved_ was going to be double the intensity, he should have been ready for it, but Lance is always too loud with his beautiful laugh, shitty flirting and endearing nicknames, Lance is too reckless and loyal and the pain in Keith's chest just grew worse and worse until he couldn't take it anymore. He didn't have time to think about it, all he could think about was that they were back from another mission they almost died and Lance was alive and standing so close and he had that stupid beautiful smile plastered on his face, the idiot, and he was so close, Keith just charged ahead, running only on impulse and _want_ because that's the way he does all things. Keith walked towards him, hands going up his neck, eyes fluttering shut as his lips met Lance's. The world stilled for a moment, and then Lance was kissing him back, hands on his hair, pulling Keith closer, eager and desperate and possessive and Keith honestly felt he was going to drown on the overwhelming rush of emotions. 

Looking back at this moment Keith hates it. Keith still hates Lance a little, - hates how stupid he was with this stupid made up rivalry, and how stupid he made Keith, hates how much time they lost because they were being stupid, - but he also loves Lance with all his might, he loves Lance so much, even though it hurts and it's hard and they're stupid. 

Back then, Keith didn't really know what to do with so much love, so he followed Lance's lead for the first year of their relationship; he waited for Lance to initiate the touches, waited for Lance to call him his boyfriend first, waited for Lance to tell the others that they were dating. He once told Lance this, later in the relationship, and Lance just laughed so hard because _"dude! you might have thought I had it together but I was just trying to remember how to breathe whenever you smiled at me."_ It was a mess, they were a mess. They didn't even celebrate anniversaries because it was hard to keep track of time in space, while defending the universe, and trying not to die. Instead, they celebrated not dying, in each other arms, licking and biting and moaning, kissing each other's tears, and for a while it was enough. Lance was the one who decided when it's wasn't anymore. They were sitting shoulder to shoulder, at Blue's cockpit, watching the stars. The stars were beautiful, and Lance was misty-eyed. _"I miss home,"_ he said. _"I miss being normal."_ They didn't have sex that night, but just talked, Lance told him all about his home and family, promising to introduce him ~~if~~ when they came back and Keith said he'd love to, that it would mean the world to him, and felt tears well up ins his eyes as he explained why. Keith shared with him little and big secrets, about the year he spent alone living in his shack, about his foster homes and the nightmares he'd have about his parents' death. He never planned on sharing so much, he never planned on reliving any of those memories, but in the end, he was glad he did. He was glad, relieved that Lance got to know the real him, and still loved him. _"I don't know exactly when we started dating, but maybe we should mark today on our space calendar. Today's the day we actually talked like adults on an established relationship, instead of being constipated idiots, we should celebrate it every year."_ Lance said, shrugging, and Keith did it, still does it. Birthdays and anniversaries were never a big thing for him, but Lance missed home and his family and Keith loves him so much it was the least he could do, which brings him back to the present, almost three years later. 

Tomorrow is 'we finally stopped being idiots and talked like adults in an established relationship' day and Keith's going to propose to him. The ring isn't from Earth, Keith bought it one year ago on a planet he doesn't even remember the name, because it had a shiny blue rock that reminded him of Lance's eyes, and because he has no impulse control. It's only a few months later that he learns that the blue rock was actually a very rare, very expensive blue gem,- that the seller made him a "you saved my planet from the Galra" discount- and that symbolizes a lasting union, a love that remains, so he just kept it hidden, inside a pair of socks in his drawer, and tried to forget about it, but he never could. Every day he'd glance at his drawer, aware of the ring, and he'd wait. The timing was never right, though, and Keith never really made the decision to propose. They were training, one day, Lance made the most ridiculous awful pun ever and Keith just thought _"I want to marry this jerk." _That's how it happened, that's why he's now in his room, showing Shiro the ring and admitting to himself that he has absolutely no fucking choice in anything Lance-related because he just loves the idiot so much and Lance loves him back, but maybe it's not enough. Maybe now that they defeated the Galra empire and can go home, back to earth, Lance will finally be recognized as the hero he is, he'll be loved by so many people, and he'll realize that he doesn't need to settle for Keith after all. Maybe Lance will acknowledge that what they had was fun and good but now he has _options_ and it would be stupid not to explore them. Maybe if he does it wrong, Lance will feel inclined to dump him and search for someone more like him, someone who's more open and vocal about his feelings, and actually know what he’s doing instead of...__

__"Hey." Shiro stops his pity party with a hand on his shoulder, and precisely the words Keith needs to hear right now. "Don't stress about it. I know you want to make it perfect but if you plan too much, you're never gonna do it. Lance loves you so he'll love it, however you do it."_ _

__"Yeah, okay." Keith breathes in, breathes out. Just last week, Lance kept humming single ladies at him, only singing aloud the 'if you liked it then you shoulda put a ring on it' part. He's obviously going to say yes, and Keith's being stupid for thinking otherwise, but hey, it's not his fault, it's Lance's. Lance and his bright eyes, challenging smirk, long warm hugs that help him sleep at night, and fierce addictive love that Keith is so very terrified of losing. It makes him stupid. "I'm doing it, I'm asking him to marry me tomorrow." He says it and he can't help smiling as the words sink in._ _

__This is it. This is his choice, a conscious deliberate choice he's making to stop being a idiot so that he can spend the rest of his life with the person he loves, and loves him back. He's choosing to be happy, and when he looks up, he realizes Shiro's smiling right back at him._ _

__"Congratulations."_ _

__xxx_ _

__He somewhat plans it, he plans the day, asks Hunk to help him make a romantic dinner, and asks Allura permission to take off the Red Lion on a quick trip. He doesn't have anywhere in mind, but this is probably going to the best day of his life and he can't imagine not flying._ _

__Lance's cool with it, he likes looking at the stars, and, although it was very hard for him to admit at first, he likes watching Keith fly._ _

__"Okay, so I'm getting a little jealous. Put Red on auto-pilot or something and come pay attention to me." Lance whines after a few minutes._ _

__"Needy much?" Keith can't help teasing him, but he does leave the pilot chair and goes to join Lance on the floor. Hunk went over the top and made them an extremely fancy picnic; there are even some candles and rose petals Keith doesn't remember asking for. Maybe Shiro told him?_ _

__"Okay, so this is... hum..." Lance even finds little heart-shaped chocolates in the basket and snorts. "Too much." He's blushing, Keith's blushing, and what the hell. They've been dating for three years now, surely they were over this awkward teenager bullshit._ _

__"I half expect Pidge to have hacked into Red so they can play awful love songs to set up the mood." Keith groans because Shiro probably told everyone, starting with Allura, judging by how quickly she agreed when he went to talk to her early. "They're so embarrassing."_ _

__"Set the mood for what?" Lance focus on the wrong thing and oh, fuck. Fuckfuckfuck. "Are you going to propose to me or something?" He laughs and Keith tries to mimic it, but all that comes out is a choked up noise. Lance stares at him, concern taking over his features. "Keith?" A moment passes between them and Lance seems to realize what's happening, because he gasps, and says, "Keith! Are you..." His voice growing higher like it does when he's horrified, but Keith tries not to read too much into it._ _

___"Don't overthink it."_ He remembers Shiro telling him. _ _

__"Yeah." Keith says, regretting not having brought his bayard with him so he can summon his sword and stab himself through the heart. He had a plan, he had a whole speech prepared, but now Lance's looking at him, expression unreadable, and Keith's mind is a complete blank. His mind's not working and his heart's working on fucking hyperdrive and Lance's still staring at him, waiting, so he has to say something, do something. Hands trembling, Keith reaches for the tiny black box he placed in Red's compartment, for this exact moment. He's so nervous, he can't even unlock the compartment, but Red, bless her, does it for him, so he can turn back and face his boyfriend._ _

__Lance is completely _still_ as Keith opens the box and shows him the ring inside. One tick passes, two, three, four. Lance audibly breathes out and it comes out shaky. Five, six, and then: "Well, that sucks." _ _

__It does suck. It's the worst proposal in the entire universe and Keith doesn't know what to do after his plan failed so spectacularly. He doesn't know what to do, he just knows that they don't deserve this, and then his body just _moves, charging ahead like his life depends on it._ Lance only has time to blink and then they're on the floor and they're kissing. Lance has awful reflexes and actually takes some time to react, but he makes up for it with sheer power of will when he kisses Keith back. He actually smiles a little into the kiss, and it's such a _Lance thing to do,_ Keith feels all tension dissipate and his shoulders shake with relief and a quiet kind a laughter. _ _

__"What?" Lance asks, between kisses, breathless and beautiful, face hot under Keith's hands and it's suddenly all very easy. Keith knows what to do, what to say._ _

__"I love you so much. I love everything about your stupid face and I want to look at it first thing in the morning every day for the rest of my life." He whispers, and kisses his boyfriend on the lips again. "So marry me?"_ _

__Keith actually has a few ticks to feel proud of himself for that recover, but then Lance is whining and saying "Oh, no, no, no..." Lance's saying no. Lance doesn't want to marry him. Keith's shaking hands let go of Lance's face and he tries to get up. He tries to get up because his heart's already in pieces but he can try and save what's left of his dignity, at least, right? He tries to get up, but his entire body feels weak and heavy and maybe he should try to remember how to breath first, but he doesn't want to be there anymore, he can't be around Lance anymore, he can't..._ _

__"No, Keith, no." And then Lance's hands are holding him, and Keith wants to yell at him to let go. But he doesn't and Lance keeps going. "I mean _yes,_ I mean... Ugh, I hate you so much." He's fumbling with his hands, searching the pockets of his jacket for something. His face lightens up when he finds it and he slowly shows it to Keith. It's a ring. It's a _red_ ring._ _

__Keith wants to laugh. He wants to cry. He wants to punch Lance in the face and then kiss him senseless. Instead, he just stares dumbly at the ring and asks "So you want to marry me?" in a low, careful voice._ _

__"Of course I want to marry you, jerk! I also wanted to be the one to propose, but you just had to beat me again, didn't you?" Lance rolls his eyes, but then flips his hair back and lowers his voice." Oh, look at me, I'm Keith and I have to be number 1 at everything, because I..."_ _

__Keith stops him with a kiss, basically throwing himself over Lance and when they hit the floor, they're both laughing. They're also crying a little._ _

__xxx_ _

__Everyone's waiting for them when they land back at the castle not because Shiro told anyone, - he actually didn't, - but because Lance had told literally everyone about his plans of proposing to Keith, and bugged them for _weeks_ trying to pick a ring and the perfect moment._ _

__"He actually proposed first, the bastard, but my speech was going to be way better. It was an award-winning emotional ode to our otherworldly love and..." Lance's so full of shit, bragging to his friends._ _

__"Yeah, okay, I'll give you that one." Keith says because it's probably true. Lance is good at this, he's good at talking and he's very good at loving. "But the ring I got you is way nicer." Keith has to add because he's also full of shit and bickering with Lance has never stopped being fun._ _

__"WHAT? TAKE IT BACK!" Lance rages, but never lets go of Keith's hand._ _

__"Trust the two of you to turn love into a competition." Allura says, at the same time Hunk facepalms. "You deserve each other!"_ _

__Lance turns to Keith, grinning, and Keith feels his own cheeks hurt with how much he's smiling back at his fiancé. Oh, god, he can't wait to be married to this idiot._ _

**Author's Note:**

> I'm notagoodplace4gods on tumblr! Feel free to send me prompts


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